We started off on Saturday with our Carols by Candlelight. This is our big, traditional service where we pull out all the stops!

It started with a church absolutely filled with candles – if there was a windowsill, it had candles in it! Then there were our Christmas Trees full of twinkling fairy lights, alongside the top of the nave (the long bit in the middle) also being covered by strings of fairy lights.

Add to that not one, but two choirs – our resident Adult choir, joined for the first time by our new Children’s Choir, Alty Trebles. Our Adult choir sang, amongst other pieces, the new arrangement of The First Nowell which was sublime, whilst our children caused a few tears to flow as they expertly sang Away in a Manger.

Add to that a really impressive young musician called Ted Moorhouse. We first met him at our Remembrance Service where he blew us away with the quality of his musicianship, and we quickly booked him for our Carols by Candlelight. He did not disappoint. Two stunning pieces which left everyone really moved: In a carol service it’s traditional not to applaud (we are worshipping, not performing) but it took quite a lot of discipline not to!

Then to cap it all, we were joined by Sale Brass Band who also blew us out of the sky with their skills as they led us in some carols, and then performed a piece of their own. To hear their melodies filling the church was deeply moving.

To bring it to a close, we then had some mulled wine and mince pies – quite an evening!

Then on Saturday it was a Carol Service with a different vibe, but none the less special for it. We teamed up with the wonderful Altrincham Baptist Church (ABC) who for the past nine years have been wowing the community of Altrincham with their Carols in the Park.

The concept sounds simple – carols, videos, hats and gloves all in the beautiful surroundings of John Leigh Park. The technicalities struck us as a little bit more challenging, but ABC had clearly done this before, and it was so lovely to be able to slot in to such a professional and experienced crew and be so warmly welcomed by the team.

Ashley (lead Minister at Altrincham Baptist) and Rev. Claire led the service, with readers from across the two churches and park communities, a live band providing some stunning music. The whole back team who were in charge of the admin, projection, sound and stewarding were just incredible, and, Rev. Claire felt, impressively unflappable!

As we sang carols, watched some awesome videos, the moon was shining, the stars were out and it was just amazing being part of an event that truly pulled the local community together.

We can’t wait for next year – Ashley has promised something particularly special for its 10th year, so we will wait and see what the plans are….!

(and for those of you who were there, Rev. Claire is beginning her campaign to get Ding Dong Merrily on the playlist…..🤣!)